The Salvatore Dali Museum

The Salvatore Dali Museum, St Petersburg, FL

The Salvador Dalí Museum is an art museum in St. Petersburg, Florida dedicated to the work of Salvador Dalí. It houses the largest collection of Dalí's works outside Europe.

It is located on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront by 5th Avenue Southeast, Bay Shore Drive, and Dan Wheldon Way. On April 18, 2012, the AIA's Florida Chapter placed the building on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places.

The Dali

The Dali Museum

The building was designed by architect, Yann Weymouth. The free-form geometrical glass bubble is made up of 1062 pieces of glass and is 75ft tall at its highest point. This image shows only a small part of it. The bubble is named, enigma.The galleries house a collection of works by Salvidor Dali, dating from 1904 until 1989.

You can see another shot of the enigma in a previous post. I will be posting more photos of this innovative building as time goes by.

This building was shot in the late afternoon, using my Canon 6D, with my Tamron 28-300mm lens. Settings used were f3.5 at 1/2500th in Aperture Priority mode and +1/3 eV, ISO 320, at 35mm. I used the pattern metering mode to ensure a good exposure since I was shooting from dark shadows into the light.

free-form geodesic glass bubble known as the “enigma”. The “enigma”, which is made up of 1,062 triangular pieces of glass, stands 75 feet at its tallest point, - See more at: http://thedali.org/about-the-museum/the-building/#sthash.Dw8vutEw.dpuf

Yann Weymouth of HOK

Yann Weymouth of HOK

Comfort Station One

Comfort Station One

Comfort Station One, or Little St Mary's Comfort Station was built in 1929. The architect, Henry S Taylor, built many of St Petersburg's buildings around that time including St Mary's Catholic Church. The octogon building is Romanesque Revival Style and is built with multi-colored bricks. It was designated in 1985 on the National Register of Historic Places, which is unusual for a comfort station.

A story that has been floating around for many years is that this comfort station is an exact replica of St Mary's Church, which is about a mile away because the church didn't pay the architect all the money owed to him. However, the architect denied the story. He said although the church paid him off late due to tight money in those days, they did pay him all the money owed to him.

It is also rumored that this comfort station is haunted by a female ghost, named Agnes. There have been many people who have claimed to have seen her and speak with her. There have also been reports of a cold chill even on the hottest days and misty figures on the mirrors.

Day 4 of 5 Day Black and White Challenge: Oleanders

Oleander

This is Day 4 of my 5 Day Black and White Challenge that I accepted from my friend, and fellow photographer, Rosemary Morrison, of Rosemary Kaye Photo, who's work I admire. I am supposed to post 1 b&w image for five days, as well as challenge a fellow photographer each day that inspires me.

I am challenging Chuck Vosburgh, who's work I feel is outstanding. I hope he accepts this challenge. Chuck is an amazing photographer and all around great person. Chuck's website can be seen here: http://www.LightingisEasy.com Check it out.

Day 2 of 5 Day Black and White Challenge: Dali Museum

Dali Museum

This is Day 2 of a 5 Day Black & White Challenge that I accepted from my friend, and fellow photographer, who's work I admire. I am supposed to post 1 b&w image for five days, as well as challenge a fellow photographer each day that inspires you.

I am challenging Beth McNabb of St Petersburg, FL, who's work I feel is outstanding.

This photo was taken of the Dali Museum building in downtown St Petersburg. I can see it from my window. I've been inside once, and with ticket prices being $22/adult and $5 parking, I decided I wouldn't go back in today. Maybe some other time when they're having a special; especially since I've already been there once.

Architectural Detail on the State Theatre in St Pete

The building was designed with 3 bays and a swag above all three. The middle bay was for the main door. Two "eagles" on each side of the swag "guarded" the bays. This is one of the eagles. It is actually a reproduction of the original eagles which were removed in 1949 during one of the renovations.

The State Theatre has gone though many renovations since its original build in 1924 as the Alexander National Bank. The bank only lasted 2 years when its owner, Jacob Alexander, died in 1926. Since then it became the home of an electric refrigeration company, another bank, then a small office building.

In 1949, it became the State Theatre. It has housed many concerts since that day.

Historic State Theatre

Constructed in 1924, the State Theatre is an outstanding example of Beaux-arts style architecture. At the time of its construction, the State Theatre's 6000 sq. ft. made it one of the largest banks in St. Petersburg. Its original use as the Alexander National Bank lasted only two years until Jacob Alexander died in December 1926.

During part of 1927, the building was occupied by the Gregory Electric Refrigeration Company but by 1928 sat vacant. The Fidelity Bank and Trust Company purchased the building in July 1929. The stock market crash in October of that same year was too much for the local economy and the Fidelity Bank, like most St. Petersburg banks, was forced to close. After Fidelity's liquidation in 1931, the building was used for a succession of small office tenants until 1949 when it was remodeled into the State Theatre.

Neel Reid was the architect who designed the original building and was also responsible locally for the Alexander Hotel. In 1949 another notable architect, Archie Parrish of St. Petersburg, remodeled the building. The facade of the State Theatre is a symmetrical composition of three bays.

The bays are defined by engaged pilasters expressed as a series of quoins above a projected water table base topped by an ionic capital with an attached swag. A projected cornice with a simple entablature tops the facade. Above this is a parapet divided into three corresponding bays again divided by projecting pilasters. Each of the three main bays contains a pair of ionic columns on a block base supporting a banded arch with an engaged keystone with an acanthus motif.

A stylized bas-relief eagle fills the space between the sides of the three arches and the engaged pilasters. The original fenestration was removed at the time of the 1949 remodeling when the openings at the side bays were filled, and a new contemporary projecting marquis was added at the central bay above the theater doors. A later renovation into a concert venue included the installation of glass blocks at the two side arches. -Wikipedia

Today the State Theatre is used for concert venues. It has room for a stage, 3 bars and 400 guests.

Vinoy Basin From the Dali

Another view from the glass at the Salvatore Dali Museum. The metal framing throughout the windows is perfect for finding a picture within a picture.

In the background you can see the Renaissance Vinoy Hotel and the Vinoy Condomiums along with the Vinoy marina.

The downtown waterfront in St Petersburg, FL is one of the most beautiful waterfronts I've ever seen--and I've lived on the Eastern Coast all my life. There is no space wasted and no space not beautifully landscaped with it's manicured lawns and beautiful flowers all year 'round.

Inchworm

Sorry I've left you all wondering whatever happened to me. I must apologize for leaving you all in the lurch.

It all started at Thanksgiving time, when I got Pneumonia. It took 3 rounds of antibiotics to get rid of the Pneumonia, but it left me depressed and tired. I went on vacation to NY to see the grandkids and then to CT to see my kids, but it still wasn't enough to shake the depression. While I brought my camera gear with me, I never took it out of the case. The only photos I shot during the whole time was about 10 photos with my camera phone of my grand and great grandchildren. I just didn't feel like taking photos or anything else for that matter.

When I got home from my vacation I found out that I had to move by 2/11. That didn't give me very much time to raise money for the move and to find a place I could afford. I've always been a deadline person, so I got busy and finally found a great place with a wonderful view in downtown St Petersburg. I'm just loving it here.

Finally, I'm over the depression and fully recovered from the Pneumonia and have started to shoot a bit again (I think it was the move that got me out of it).

This one today is of an Inchworm that was inching his way across the mud catcher in front of the doorway of the building I moved to. I didn't have my camera on me, but I had my trusty old camera phone, so I got down on all fours and made a shot of him. Imagine finding something like this in the middle of the city!

The inchworm is the larvae or caterpillar of the Geometrid Moth. There are so many varieties in their coloring and markings that it was hard to identify it correctly. I'm still not 100% sure. Hopefully, one of you will be able to confirm my guess or correct it.

Fountain in Downtown St Petersburg

I spotted this fountain in downtown St Petersburg on my way home from our Saturday Photowalk Meetup while walking to my car. I'm not sure what the name of it is, or what it represents so I'll have to take another ride to it to find more information about it.

This parking garage was kind of scary since it is in South St Petersburg, which is not in a very desirable neighborhood, and it was late at night and my car was the only car on this level. I was pretty nervous since I was all alone.

I drove to the opening where I spotted this fountain, took out my camera and snapped a couple photos of it quickly and got right back into my running car.

To give you an idea how tall this wall of water is, that figure at the bottom of the fountain is a woman standing there with her hands on her hips. You can also see the parking garage behind it along with several levels.

If I had more time, or wasn't so scared, I'd have made this photograph properly using my tripod and a slower shutter speed. I must go back during the day when there's more people and cars around.

Settings used to make this shot: First of all, I didn't use my tripod, I braced my elbows on a ledge to steady the camera. This was shot at F5.6 for 1/2 second, using ISO 400. My exposure compensation was set to +1/3 eV with partial metering. I used my 18-55mm lens set at 49mm. Had I used a tripod, I would've set the shutter speed to 1 or 2 seconds to blur the water more. However, I was all alone at 10:00 at night in an empty parking garage on St Pete's south side. I stepped out of my car quickly to make this shot and got back in to my running car where I'd be safe.

Street Musician

While on a photo walk with my Newbie group on Sunday, I spotted this street musician playing the sax. He wasn't just playing the sax, he's a blues player! I love the blues, and love to photograph musicians.

This guy has been playing for over 35 years and he's really, really good. I gave him a tip and he let us make all the photos we wanted of him.

After processing this image, actually I didn't have to do anything to it other than RAW processing, I decided to fool around with it a bit in Lightroom 2.4. One of the latest trends in photography is the "grunge" or "edgy" look. I fooled around a bit and came up with this. I kind of like it and I think it's a good fit for a street musician. Let me know what you think of it.

The original image was shot with ISO 400 in the late afternoon, actually early evening. I used aperture priority mode at F7.1 which is the sweet spot on my lens, and a shutter speed of 1/60th. I used partial metering off his face and exposed at -1/3 exposure compensation to prevent the highlights on the sax from blowing out. I used a focal length of 154mm on my 55-250mm lens to give him some space and to further blur the background.

Worthy Building, Springfield, MA

During my vacation, my son and I spent 1 afternoon in Springfield, MA, about 20 minutes from Hartford, CT.

We photographed downtown architecture from the top floor of a garage (we later got stuck in; but that's another story).

This building is the Worthy Building, 1571 Main St, Springfield, MA. It was originally the Worthy Hotel built in 1905 in the Renaissance architectural style. It was designed by Gardner, Pyne & Garner. On 2/24/1983, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is now used for various businesses and low income housing.

Here is a more detailed view. For a 100+ year old building, this one is in beautiful shape.